Winter offers a unique window into the hidden lives of animals, and local naturalist Norm Gregoire says snow-covered landscapes make it the ideal season to\u00a0learn the art of\u00a0wildlife tracking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gregoire, who leads the Adventures with Nature Norm program\u00a0through Shared Legacy, says winter simplifies what can otherwise be a challenging outdoor skill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWinter, it just lends itself to wildlife tracking, just basically because of the snow,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0\u201cThe snow really just captures different prints and different animal signs,\u201d he added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In warmer months, tracks are often lost in grass or mixed woodlands, but fresh snow provides a clear canvas that reveals where animals have been and what they were doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reading more than footprints\u00a0<\/p>\n
While tracks are often the first thing people notice, Gregoire says they are only one part of the story animals leave behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot more than you might think,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He explains that learning to read wildlife\u00a0signs takes time and practice, noting many people walk past clues without realizing what they are seeing, such as plant damage left by animals from feeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust walking through the trails, you can see tons of signs from different\u00a0brows on the different willows and things like that from deer, rabbits and hares and everything like that around,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chew marks on trees, day beds in the snow, and even owl pellets can all offer insight into animal\u00a0behaviour. Gregoire says an owl that frequented the Interpretive Centre last winter has returned, leaving pellets beneath a regular perch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sort of tells a story of what these owls have been up to over the last couple of weeks,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Common and surprising tracks\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some animal tracks are familiar to most residents, especially in southeastern Manitoba.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most people in our area are pretty familiar with what a white-tailed deer track looks like,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coyotes and foxes are also\u00a0common\u00a0trail users, but Gregoire says some of the most interesting signs are the smallest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese little animal highways that zip through the deep snow over the trail\u2026 are from little rodents, voles and mice and things like that,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More surprising finds can include tracks from weasels such as ermine and pine marten, which turn white in winter, and even larger animals that are rarely seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes with animals\u00a0we rarely see, like a wolf or an elk, we have a much more likely chance of spotting their tracks,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowing how old a track is\u00a0<\/p>\n
Determining whether tracks are fresh or days old is another skill Gregoire encourages people to practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the easiest ways\u2026 is just simply sort of looking back on the last few hours or day or even days to remember when\u00a0was the last time\u00a0we had snowfall in the area,\u201d he said.\u00a0
\n(00:04:05)\u00a0<\/p>\n
He adds that temperature and how the snow has frozen around a print can also provide clues, something that becomes easier with experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about getting outside and seeing what you can see,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why tracking matters\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Gregoire, wildlife tracking adds depth to any outdoor experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith tracks, they just give you more of an opportunity to learn from the animal,\u00a0know\u00a0that they\u2019re in the area,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His advice for beginners is simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPatience and also just awareness of what\u2019s around you,\u201d Gregoire said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To hear the entire conversation with Gregoire, listen to the podcast with host Carly Koop.<\/p>\n
Event details\u00a0<\/p>\n
Residents can put these skills into practice this weekend during a free guided winter wildlife tracking event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adventures with Nature Norm: Winter Wildlife Tracking takes place Saturday, Jan. 17, starting at 10 a.m. at the Weston Family Tallgrass Prairie Interpretive Centre, just outside\u00a0Stuartburn.\u00a0The approximately two-hour event includes time on the trails, weather permitting, as well as an indoor presentation on identifying animal tracks common to the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
-Written with files from Carly Koop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winter offers a unique window into the hidden lives of animals, and local naturalist Norm Gregoire says snow-covered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-412277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}